Google sacks 12,000 workers globally

Google’s parent company Alphabet announced Friday it will cut about 12,000 jobs globally, citing a changing economic reality as it became the latest US tech giant to enact large-scale restructuring.

The layoffs come a day after Microsoft said it would reduce staff numbers by 10,000 in the coming months, following similar cuts by Facebook owner Meta, Amazon and Twitter as the tech sector girds for the economic downturn.

The cuts follow a major hiring spree during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when companies scrambled to meet demand as people went online for work, school and entertainment.

“Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in an email to employees.

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“To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.”

A review is taking place to make sure that people and their roles are in line with the company’s priorities, Pichai said, adding that the workforce would be reduced by around 12,000 positions.

Alphabet employed nearly 187,000 workers worldwide at the end of September 2022. The cuts represent a little over 6 per cent of its total workforce.

The cuts will be “across departments, functions, levels of responsibility and regions,” Pichai added.

“The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.”

Pichai said that the cuts would “sharpen our focus” on priorities including artificial intelligence.

“Being constrained in some areas allows us to bet big on others,” he said.

Google’s world-dominating search engine has found itself under pressure with the emergence of ChatGPT, a Microsoft-backed chatbot that can generate elaborate, human-like content in just seconds.

Microsoft has said the technology will be used to strengthen Bing, the longtime rival to Google search.

Google has turned to founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who have left their daily roles at the tech titan, for help responding to the threat posed by the chatbot, according to a New York Times report.

Brin and Page met with Google executives several times last month to brainstorm, the Times reported.

Google declined to comment directly on the Times report.

Pichai announced severance packages for US employees, who will receive at least 16 weeks of salary, their 2022 bonus, paid vacations and six months of health coverage.

He said he remained “optimistic about our ability to deliver on our mission, even on our toughest days.”